Photo: Carol M. Highsmith · Public domainIndianapolis’ library lends 5.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Indianapolis Public Library serves 963,251 people in and around Indianapolis from 23 locations. Last year it lent 8.7M books, movies and e-books and logged 2.4M visits.
The short version on Indianapolis’s library
The branch is a National Register landmark
Central Library (Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library) has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1975. Today’s library there has 299,300 square feet. The buildings ↓
23 branches in Indianapolis
Indianapolis has 23 branches of the Indianapolis Public Library, which serves 963,251 people in and around Indianapolis. One card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024; Indianapolis Public Library serves 963,251 people in and around Indianapolis, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Indianapolis’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Indianapolis is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns, #338 of 571 in Indiana State. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #88. Indianapolis is graded on two of the three inputs. Indianapolis’ count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
3,888 community nonprofits are registered in Indianapolis
4.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (1,296 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 225 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.9%
6.9% of Indianapolis’ Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.1% in the typical Indiana State town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Indianapolis’ residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1975
Indianapolis Public Library, 40 East St. Clair, Indianapolis.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Indianapolis Public Library branch.
New in Indianapolis? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Central Library (Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library)
Central Library (Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library) was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Aug 28, 1975. It is significant for its architecture at the state level. Its architecture is described as Greek Revival.
More about the building →Other Indianapolis Public Library branches in Indianapolis
And 10 more in Indianapolis.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Indianapolis Public Library serves 963,251 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 138 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Indianapolis Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
8.7M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,218,547 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 86 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Indianapolis cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $148M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $6M budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 289,752 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zionsville | Hussey-Mayfield Memorial Public Library fine-free | 26.1 | 64 | A |
| Indianapolis | Indianapolis Public Library fine-free | — | 54 | B− |
| Lawrence | Fort Ben Branch fine-free | — | 55 | C− |
| Pike Township | Eagle Branch Library fine-free | — | 55 | C+ |
| Lawrence Township | Fort Ben Branch fine-free | — | 55 | C+ |
| Franklin Township | Franklin Road Branch Library fine-free | — | 51 | C |
| Perry Township | Southport Branch Library fine-free | — | 55 | D |
| Decatur Township | Decatur Branch Library fine-free | — | 51 | C− |
| Vernon Township | Fortville-Vernon Township Public Library fine-free | — | 52 | B |
| Brown Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| McCordsville | None of its own | — | — | A− |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Indianapolis Public Library serves 963,251 people in and around Indianapolis, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Indianapolis.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Indianapolis
Does Indianapolis have a public library?
Yes. Indianapolis Public Library, 40 East St. Clair, serves 963,251 people in and around Indianapolis (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Indianapolis Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Indianapolis’ library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 9.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Indianapolis’ civic life grade?
B− Indianapolis is ahead of 49% of U.S. towns on civic life, #338 of 571 in Indiana State. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Indianapolis.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.